New bikie laws debated in parliament

Geoff has been working for the QT since August 2011 covering Ipswich’s rural areas. He started working for APN in January 2010 with the Chinchilla News in western Queensland after growing up on a grain farm. Geoff spends his time out of work watching far too much sport following the Reds, the Broncos and various American teams.

DEBATE began on the proposed replacement for Queensland's controversial anti-bikie laws late yesterday afternoon and continued into the evening.

The Labor government's response to the former Newman government's controversial VLAD laws were debated in Queensland Parliament last night.

The Serious and Organised Crime Legislation Amendment Bill introduces a new offence of repeatedly consorting with other offenders, bans gang colours in public and gives police powers to remove fortifications in gang headquarters.

Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath introduced the bill to the house, claiming the new laws would target drug syndicates and pedophile rings as well as organised criminal bikie gangs.

"This is a regime which will deliver an effective and considered response to counter the threat posed to the community by organised criminals," she said.

But LNP shadow attorney-general Ian Walker said the Opposition would not be supporting the bill.

Mr Walker said the laws were a watering down of effective laws the LNP had brought in.

"The LNP will not be supporting these laws and that probably won't come as a surprise," he said.

He said the laws were based on laws introduced in 2000 that had failed to crack down on organised crime.

Mr Walker said the legislation was based on reviews of the VLAD laws that had a predetermined outcome.

"There's been no independent assessment of these laws," he said.

"There's merely been the setting of a task to a task force of 'How do we repeal these laws?'."